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On The Fly: After Hours MoversLOWER: Omeros Corporation (OMER), down 7.5% after the company said a phase 3 clinical trial did not meet all endpoints... Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), down 0.4% after the company disclosed in its 10k filing that it was a cooperating with a Department of Justice investigation into its acquisition of Autonomy.

Earnings Preview: HP reports with break-up inching closerHewlett-Packard (HPQ) is set to report first quarter earnings after the market close on Tuesday, February 24, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. Hewlett-Packard is an IT company that provides hardware, software, and business and enterprise solutions. In October of last year, HP announced plans to separate into two new publicly traded companies: one comprising HP's enterprise technology infrastructure, software and services businesses, which will do business as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, and one that will comprise HP's personal systems and printing businesses, which will do business as HP Inc. EXPECTATIONS: Analysts are looking for earnings per share of 91c on revenue of $27.34B, according to First Call. The consensus range for EPS is 88c-95c on revenue of $27.01B-$27.92B. With its last earnings report, the company said it expects Q1 EPS of 89c-93c. HP has an FY15 EPS forecast of $3.83-$4.03, compared to a consensus estimate of $3.96. LAST QUARTER: On November 25, HP reported fourth quarter EPS of $1.06, matching the consensus estimate, on revenue of $28.4B, against a consensus estimate of $28.76B. HP said its Q4 personal systems revenue was up 4% from the prior year period, with total units up 5%, including Desktops units being down 2% and Notebooks units being up 8%. Enterprise Group revenue was down 4% year over year, with Industry Standard Servers revenue down 2%, Storage revenue down 8%, Business Critical Systems revenue down 29%, Networking revenue up 2% and Technology Services revenue down 3%. NEWS: On the day after HP's Q4 report, HP CEO Meg Whitman said in an interview on CNBC that the company will have a moratorium on acquisitions during 2015 as it readies for its split. Whitman also noted that the newly formed companies will have a supply chain agreement to ensure they do not lose leverage after their split. In mid January, research firm Gartner estimated that worldwide shipments of PCs increased 1% last quarter. "These results indicate a slow, but consistent improvement following more than two years of decline," the firm wrote. Late last month, HP said it has been "working diligently to ensure that both HP Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise are set up for success" and announced Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will be headed by Meg Whitman as President and CEO and that HP Inc. will be led by Dion Weisler as President and CEO. STREET RESEARCH: On December 17, Citigroup analyst Jim Suva contended that sales of PCs will be at least flat next year, before growing slightly in 2016 and 2017. The firm identified HP as the best way to play better than expected PC sales. Suva raised his price target on HP shares to $46 from $40 and kept a Buy rating on the stock. Also at that time, Suva raised his price target on hard disk drive maker Western Digital (WDX) to $125 from $110 and on its competitor, Seagate (STX), to $74 from $70, as he noted that the companies obtain about 50% of their revenue from PCs. He kept Buy ratings on both names. On January 13, Pacific Crest downgraded HP to Sector Perform from Outperform, citing increased competition and the fact that a number of companies are buying integrated IT stacks and buying fewer individual servers and IT storage products. More recently, Wells Fargo said it believes that HP's Q1 results could exceed the consensus outlook, driven by PC share gains, strong server demand, and solid printing demand. The firm believes that currency issues may pressure the company's outlook, but it thinks that investors expect such a scenario. The firm reiterated an Outperform rating on the shares. PRICE ACTION: Over the last three months, shares of HP are up almost 2%. Near midday ahead of Tuesday's report, the stock was down fractionally near $38 per share.

HP volatility elevated into Q1 and outlook HP February weekly call option implied volatility is at 61, March is 30, April is at 28, August is at 27; compared to its 26-week average of 27 according to Track Data, suggesting large near term price movement into the expected release of Q1 results on February 24.